Southeastern & Gulf Cultures

3-2 Cornell Notes Southeastern & Gulf Cultures Main Idea: Native American people of Southeastern and Gulf Cultures developed different ways of life based on their environment and needs.

Essential Questions • How does the environment affect the development of a society? • How did the American Indians adapt to and modify their environment?

SE/Gulf Farmers & Gatherers Some were farmers, others were mainly coastal fishers, and still others gathered their food. During the 1600s new Native American groups joined these 3 groups and began raising crops and building permanent settlements.

The Caddos • The Caddos settled in East Texas along the Coastal Plains. They were highly advanced farmers and fishers. • Two large groups, or confederacies, of Caddo people, the Kadohadacho and Hasanai, lived in Texas. • Some confederacies were matrilineal—tracing their descent through their mothers

The Caddos Caddo-moved into Eastern Texas from Arkansas, Louisiana and Oklahoma. They built permanent villages and became expert farmers. They practiced crop rotation. The Caddo grew beans, corn, squash, melons and tobacco. They organized their tribes into 2 to 3 confederacies. The Caddo built mounds and temples for religious events. In addition to a religious and political structure the Caddo had healers and craftspeople.

The Caddo was a matrilineal society. This means they traced their families through their mother’s side. Their houses were wooden poles covered with grass. Some may have plastered the outside walls with mud. Both men and women tattooed and painted their bodies. Caddo Round House-up to 50 feet tall, second level inside.

The Caddos They lived in domed-shaped huts, had an organized government system led by a chief, and greeted Europeans with the word Tejas, which means “friends”. Smallpox eventually reduced their number; and in 1859 they were forced to move to present-day Oklahoma (i.e. Indian Territory) on a reservation.

The Coahuiltecans The Coahuiltecans lived a nomadic life moving from campsite to campsite in the dry, brushy land of the SouthTexasPlain. They huntedjavelina, deer, and bison with bows and arrows, and they gathered dried plants and ground them into flour.They also ate bugs and other insects. Considered very primal.

Coahuiltecans-hunted and gathered food in south Texas. They were nomadic and covered long distances following buffalo, deer and small animals. They also fished, and ate seeds, berries, roots, plants, insects, lizards, snakes, spiders and worms. They did not build permanent homes. They worked hard, but they liked to gather for feasting and dancing. Scavengers of the desert…ate anything that wiggled or crawled.

The Coahuiltecans Shamans, or people believed to have the power to summon spirits and cure the sick, were important to them. By the time Texas became a state in 1845, most Coahuiltecansdisappeared from the Gulf region.

The Karankawas The Karankawas lived along the Southeast Gulf Coast and on islands between Galveston and Corpus Christi Bays. They used their most prized possession—dugoutcanoes—for fishingand hunting small animals. Cabeza de Vacawrote about his time living with them.

The Karankawas • Karankawa-hunters and gatherers who lived in the area of Galveston to Corpus Christi. They were nomads. They used dugout canoes to fish, hunt turtles and collect shells. They also hunted deer and small animals. They lived in wigwams. Karankawa wigwam

The Karankawa did not need much clothing. Their clothes were made out of deerskin or grass or moss. Men would pierce pieces of sharpened bone through their lips and chest to show how macho they were. To keep the insects away, they rubbed alligator fat and dirt into their skin. Some reports say they were cannibals (eating human flesh!). Taller Indians so they carried bows that were up to 6 feet tall.

The Karankawas In the 1820s, when North American settlers moved into the area, fighting with settlers erupted. By the mid-1800s, almost all Karankawas were displaced or killed.

The Wichitas The Wichitas moved from present-day Kansas to lands along the Trinity, Red, and Brazos Rivers. They hunted buffalos, farmed, and were known for their tattoos around the eyes known as “raccoon eyes”. Women held leadership positions and shared work with the men. They traded with the French but often fought Spanish settlers, who tried to bring them into Spanish missions.

The Wichitas were called the raccoon-eyed Indians because of their eye tattooes. They settled along the Red River. They grew beans, corn, melons and squash. The Wichita used horses to hunt buffalo and deer. They lived in permanent villages, some building houses like the Caddo.

Other SE/Gulf Groups The Atakapans lived along the coast between Galveston Bay and the Sabine River.Very similar to the Karankawa, though some were farmers. In the 1820s the Cherokees moved to East Texas from parts of the U.S. and adopted the ways of the “white man” by learning English and taking English/American names. Between 1795 and 1816, the Alabama and Coushatta nations moved to East Texas and settled on a reservation near Livingston.

Atakapan-between the Caddo and the Gulf of Mexico lived the Atakapan people. They were farmers, and corn was their main crop. Not only did they farm, but they hunted wild game and alligator. Little is known about their houses, but it is thought they lived in huts made from brush.

Essential Questions • How does the environment affect the development of a society? • How did the American Indians adapt to and modify their environment?

Southeastern & Gulf Cultures